The Big Picture - Mark Hanson - I make calls to Realtors, mortgage loan officers, builders, housing investors, and various individuals actively involved in the house and mortgage markets every day. I think their street level perception and anecdotes are extremely valuable to housing and mortgage sector research. When talking to these folks I think asking the right questions is paramount.

In the month of March — taken from over 100 calls — below are the most common responses to questions surrounding this housing market, sense of urgency to sell or buy, why they think ‘now’ is a good time, why time it’s different, etc.

Reuters - Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low.

But a painful part two of the slump looks set to unfold: Many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures.

"We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010," said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio.

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The report by the National Fair Housing Alliance examined more than 1,000 foreclosed properties in nine cities: Atlanta; Baltimore; Dallas; Dayton, Ohio; Miami; Oakland, Calif., Philadelphia; Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

It is harder than ever to become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals by working on Wall Street.

Profits are getting crimped as new regulations put the brakes on some of Wall Street’s riskiest — and most lucrative — practices. Compensation is falling. And stocks, a large part of industry pay, are under pressure.

The real estate firm's research unit said the sector showed meaningful gains in 2011 as vacancy rates dropped, rental rates rose and residents migrated to less expensive units, driving improvements from Class A properties into Class B and C properties.

"The apartment sector has fully moved into an expansion cycle," Marcus & Millichap said.

Reuters - Jason Lange - The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits dropped to the lowest level in nearly four years last week, according to a government report that showed ongoing healing in the labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

But the claims data could bolster the case that the healing labor market is lowering the need for the Federal Reserve to do more to boost growth.

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